Water on the Moon?

NASA'S LCROSS Impacts Confirm Water In Lunar Crater:

"Preliminary data from NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, indicates the mission successfully uncovered water in a permanently shadowed lunar crater. The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon.

The LCROSS spacecraft and a companion rocket stage made twin impacts in the Cabeus crater Oct. 9 that created a plume of material from the bottom of a crater that has not seen sunlight in billions of years. The plume traveled at a high angle beyond the rim of Cabeus and into sunlight, while an additional curtain of debris was ejected more laterally."

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reBlog from mashable.com: Apollo 11 Moon Landing: A YouTube Timeline

Image via Wikipedia

I found this fascinating quote today:

We felt compelled to find some way to pay tribute to the 40th anniversary of when man first stepped on the moon. We showed you last week How To Experience the Apollo 11 Moon Landing in Realtime, but we’re taking it a step further, by taking you step-by-step through that mission utilizing YouTube as a medium. This is the Apollo 11 mission, from Kennedy’s famous speeches to Apollo 11’s recovery, in the form of YouTube videos.mashable.com, Apollo 11 Moon Landing: A YouTube Timeline, Jul 2009

You should read the whole article.

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LRO Snaps Its First Pics of Apollo Sites

Image by Goddard Photo and Video Blog via Flickr

NASA's LRO Spacecraft Gets Its First Look At Apollo Landing Sites:

"WASHINGTON, July 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo moon landing sites. The pictures show the Apollo missions' lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon's surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules' locations evident.

"The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, was able to image five of the six Apollo sites, with the remaining Apollo 12 site expected to be photographed in the coming weeks.

"The satellite reached lunar orbit June 23 and captured the Apollo sites between July 11 and 15. Though it had been expected that LRO would be able to resolve the remnants of the Apollo mission, these first images came before the spacecraft reached its final mapping orbit. Future LROC images from these sites will have two to three times greater resolution."

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First LRO Images Sent

NASA's LRO Spacecraft Sends First Lunar Images to Earth:

"GREENBELT, Md., July 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has transmitted its first images since reaching lunar orbit June 23. The spacecraft has two cameras -- a low resolution Wide Angle Camera and a high resolution Narrow Angle Camera. Collectively known as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, they were activated June 30. The cameras are working well and have returned images of a region a few kilometers east of Hell E crater in the lunar highlands south of Mare Nubium."

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NASA Moon Impactor Successfully Completes Lunar Maneuver

NASA Moon Impactor Successfully Completes Lunar Maneuver:

"MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., June 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, successfully completed its most significant early mission milestone Tuesday with a lunar swingby and calibration of its science instruments. The satellite will search for water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole.

"With the assist of the moon's gravity, LCROSS and its attached Centaur booster rocket successfully entered into polar Earth orbit at 6:20 a.m. PDT on June 23. The maneuver puts the spacecraft and Centaur on course for a pair of impacts near the moon's south pole on Oct. 9."

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NASA Lunar Mission Successfully Enters Moon Orbit

Image by Goddard Video and Multimedia via Flickr

NASA Lunar Mission Successfully Enters Moon Orbit:

"GREENBELT, Md., June 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After a four and a half day journey from the Earth, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully entered orbit around the moon. Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., confirmed the spacecraft's lunar orbit insertion at 6:27 a.m. EDT Tuesday."

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LCROSS Is Go!

Image by nasa hq photo via Flickr

NASA Successfully Launches Lunar Impactor:

"CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., June 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA successfully launched the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, Thursday on a mission to search for water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon's south pole. The satellite lifted off on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 5:32 p.m. EDT, with a companion mission, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO."

SPACE.com -- New Moon Rocket Could Launch Giant Space Telescopes (via delicious)

Image via Wikipedia Post from NewsGator.com:

SPACE.com -- New Moon Rocket Could Launch Giant Space Telescopes (via delicious)

delicious SPACE.com -- New Moon Rocket Could Launch Giant Space Telescopes 18 hours ago - Comment - Like "Slated to make its first test flight in 2018, the Ares V rocket is designed to stand about 381 feet (116 meters) tall and be able to launch payloads weighing almost 180 metric tons into low-Earth orbit. "(...) "But while the Ares V is designed under NASA's Constellation program to return astronauts to the moon, the rocket behemoth presents a boon for astronomers and other scientists dreaming of bigger, better space-based observatories. " - Ron Bailey

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SPACE.com -- First Look Inside Dark Moon Craters (via delicious)

Image by kstrebor via Flickr Post from NewsGator.com:

SPACE.com -- First Look Inside Dark Moon Craters (via delicious)

delicious SPACE.com -- First Look Inside Dark Moon Craters 18 hours ago - Comment - Like "The images, taken on Nov. 17, 2008, cover part of the Haworth crater at the moon's south pole and the western rim of Seares crater, an impact feature near the north pole. Bright areas in each image represent either surface roughness or slopes pointing toward the spacecraft." - Ron Bailey

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Links for 01-15-09

Image via Wikipedia Post from NewsGator.com:

Links for 2009-01-15 [del.icio.us]

• Space and Astronautics News » Blog Archive » NASA Tests Engine for New Manned Moon Landings.
  "The Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine, or CECE, is a deep-throttling engine, which means it has the flexibility to reduce thrust from 100 percent down to 10 percent - allowing a spacecraft to gently land on the lunar surface. The 13,800-pound thrust engine uses extremely cold liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as propellants."
• Troy's Crock Pot: New Villains for New Campaigns
• Salon to Syndicate GigaOM Network
• The Cars on FoxyTunes Planet

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